Holidays aren't celebrated by families in mourning

Balloons for a birthday she will never celebrate. Flowers from a Valentine she will never kiss. Poems and letters she will never read. They are all nailed to a telephone pole in Kailua Town.

It's been about a year now since she was killed. If memory serves, it was just before Christmas 1996. I do recall that she was young, maybe around 14, but then the ones who die always seem to be so young.

I'm reminded of her death and of her life almost daily, as I drive by her roadside shrine. It's nice to know she had friends, people who cared for and loved her.

But wasn't she with friends the night she died? Wasn't that her friend driving so fast, so carelessly, that she lost control and crashed?

This tragedy has been played out before and, of course, will happen again. Last summer, another young lady played around with her car and drove recklessly in Kahala. The result: another friend dead and another family in grief.

Be responsible, drive safely and have a happy holiday season.

Mark Simunovich
Kailua

John DeSoto is caring, family-oriented citizen

I was saddened to read about the filing of a temporary restraining order against City Council Chairman John DeSoto. I want to express my sincere belief that John's account of events is accurate -- not because I was there, but because I know him.

When I moved to Hawaii 20 years ago, it was John and his family who treated me kindly, showing me friendship and teaching me aloha.

John is one of the kindest, most caring people I have ever met. If he has any fault, it is that he cares too much. There is nothing more dear to him than his family.

I know that whatever John does, he does with integrity and sincerity.

Dave Rae
Kapolei

Catholic Church isn't all that loving, positive

Catholic Bishop DiLorenzo details the social good done by institutional Catholicism in his Dec. 19 View Point column. Clearly, the Catholic Church and individual Catholics have done great good -- Mother Teresa being a prime recent example.

However, DiLorenzo neglects to mention the horror of the Spanish Inquisition, the genocide of Native Americans aided and abetted by the church, and the selling of indulgences which prompted the Reformation, to name a few of its less than positive achievements.

The bishop, while proclaiming Catholic commitment to "justice and human dignity" wastes no time taking a swipe at homosexuals by saying that "marriage...is not safe from redefinition and devaluation."

If same-gender marriage became legal tomorrow, Catholics and every heterosexual person in the state would have every single choice that they have today.

Thus the term "redefinition" is a semantic ploy designed to hide a Catholic hatred of homosexuals.

The Catholic Church needs to tidy up its own house, including repenting of its past, before having the moral authority to judge the lives of loving and committed homosexuals.

Don D. Harryman Jr.

Four justices must resign for disgracing high court

To be named an executor and, in this case, the choosing of trustees by the last will and testament, is an honor that a normal person would not turn down -- more so for the estate of our late Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

What four of the five present Supreme Court Justices have done -- namely Justices Moon, Nakayama, Levinson and Ramil -- is to bring distrust to that office.

For over a century, the Hawaii Supreme Court has adhered to that honor. Why the refusal now?

I don't buy the justices' flimsy excuses. Do they have other ulterior motives?

These four justices must be forced to resign. What transpired is an insult to law-abiding citizens and the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. I am outraged!

Paul D. Lemke
Kapaa, Kauai

HCC must not be hurt by too many regulations

Hawaii taxpayers were recently saddled with a heavy tax burden when it was decided that the state would build a convention center on the old Aloha Motors site at Kapiolani Boulevard and Atkinson Drive.

Now that it is built, some people are complaining of noise and are suggesting that no amplified sound be permitted on the outdoor rooftop garden patio as a way of addressing the noise problem.

As taxpayers, we should be on the lookout so that our elected and appointed officials and civil servants not place unreasonable regulations (e.g. noise limits, hours of operation, etc.) that could cause even more tax dollars to be spent or that would eliminate the center from consideration by potential conventioneers.

Every effort should be made to enhance the center's position as a destination in the national and international market.

Then it can repay loans, bring outside funds into the state and make itself self-supporting, as originally envisioned by state planners.

Unreasonable restraints could turn the convention center into a white elephant, just like the underused Waikiki Shell and Aloha Stadium.

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